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spoiler alert don't read any further if you're going to see the movie! i am totally going to spoil it for you, especially if you're not familiar with the story of peter parker and how he became the amazing spider-man.

spider-man is a great movie. there were parts where i just thought to myself, "wow, this is awesome!" like all the sequences of spider-man swinging through the jungle of buildings. originally i was very much concerned that this scenes would be too cgi and look fake, but i think they did a pretty good job. my favorite part of the movie is in the beginning, when peter parker first realizes his new spider skills. learning how to use his web, realizing he could climb walls, using his spider senses. i'd totally watch a show about peter parker, the early years, sort of like what smallville is doing right now with superman.

spider-man the character is great because of the story itself. peter parker is very human, he's the class nerd, doesn't seem to have any friends other than harry osborn, is madly in love with mary jane but has never had the courage to do anything about it, is orphan raised by his aunt and uncle, isn't rich like his friend harry but lives modestly in the city suburb, and top it all off, his best friend harry ends up dating mary jane behind his back. peter parker is a total underdog, although a loveable one at that, and you can't help but to root for him. and then overnight, after a radioactive spider bite, he's transformed into spider-man, but the transition is only physical, he still carries his geeky awkwardness for a good portion of the movie as he's trying to come to grips with his new found powers and what to do with them. his homemade costume that he wears to his wrestling match, that was just classic. it looked like he was wearing underoos and a ski mask. proto-spider-man!

but let's get back to the story. my favorite part of the spider-man history is how he lets some criminal go instead of stopping him, and then later that same criminal kills his uncle ben. part guilt, part revenge, part obligation, he then from that day on devotes his life to fighting crime. that seems to be the perfect plot setup, i'm surprised it's not used more often (didn't this happen to batman as well? his parents were murdered before his eyes?). look above the comic books, and just think of it like it happened to you. what would you feel? and here we have tobey maguire. man, he can cry like nobody's business! only an actor like tobey could pull off this role. you get your standard issue action actor, and the film totally degrades into that, just an action movie, some more cinematic fluff. but put in a real actor, and the movie suddenly has dimensions. add willem dafoe as norman osborn/green goblin. here's a real veteran actor! you got another level of complexity to your characters. add kirsten dunst. okay, sure, she's been in a few light-hearted films that doesn't really showcase her acting all that well, but the lights are on when she acts, no one can say she gives a 2D performance.

i wasn't as concerned with tobey maguire's casting as spider-man as i was with kirsten dunst's casting as mary jane watson. but after seeing the movie, i totally bought into her. i don't think she's stunningly attractive, nor do i think she looks ugly. she just looks like a normal girl (not a "movie star"), and likewise so does tobey maguire (normal boy). they wouldn't be my first choice for leading man and woman, but i think their casting adds a more believable touch to the film.

i did think the ending was a bit contrived, suffering from a little bit of that judge dredd disease. the role of spider-man is weird because the actor who plays spider-man is essentially in a mask. how much acting can you do in a mask? especially for an actor, the face is a key acting component. likewise, the green goblin wears a mask as well. so what do they do? in the final battle scene, spider-man's mask is blown half off revealing his face, and the green goblin takes off his mask to reveal norman osborn. to me, that felt a little staged. oh, is that convenient... his mask is blasted off... revealing his face...

upside down kiss in the rain at night? are you sure this film's pg-13?

if this movie constitutes one of the films starting off the summer blockbuster season, then i'm going to say that this will be one of the better ones that will be coming out in the next few months. spider-man is definitely worth the money, you shouldn't miss it.

i went to bed last night at 4am and woke up with all sorts of body aches that i couldn't quite figure out where i got them from until the end of the day when i suddenly realized it was from all that moving. the joints where my arms attach to my body were sore, and for some reason my feet hurt.

not much to report from work. another day with very little interruptions. maybe pure speculation on my part, but i think the do not disturb message has been circulated. although i talk to everyone on my team everyday, if i don't go downstairs and they don't come upstairs, then i can probably go the whole week without actually seeing anyone from my team. how depressing is that, huh? might as well work from home, this is almost the same thing (except i know i'd get very little work done at home, i'd spend all my hours eating in front of the television).

after work walking done the sixth street path in the rain, i noticed little oak tree sprouts popping out from the layer of mulch underneath the trees. this is what happens when you bury acorns! it almost seems magical to think that if you cover up those hardshelled nuts with some dirt, that after the winter season is over they'll open up and small trees will start to grow from them. if you don't pay attention, it's very likely you'll miss what's going on. and by the next time the landscapers clean up the area, all this will be gone when they remulch.

i went down to kenmore square to the fenway 13 theatre, where joel was able to get us into the sneak preview of spider-man through some sort of promotional event sponsored by his radio stations. it was joel, his two friends darren and dan, brendan and jen, rebecca and alex. i got a large popcorn (whereby i coated it with a heavy layer of 50/50 salt and sugar combo), while in my bag was stashed a 20 oz. carbonated grape beverage. i was a little nervous about getting busted when they announced they'd search bags, but that didn't happen. darren and i went into the screening room first, where we reserved a row of 8 seats by strategically removing articles of clothing to put as placeholders. although the movie was suppose to start at 7pm, it didn't start until after 7:30pm. i sat in my seat eating my popcorn, drinking my contraband soda, and eyeing whomever came into the theatre.

a sneak preview is such an elitist event. somehow you're cheating the movie system by seeing a film before the rest of the viewing public has a chance to see it. i've only been to one other sneak preview, and that was for lord of the rings, alex huang who was working at the burlington cinema at the time, got me into a free employees & family only screening of the movie. i also think a lot of people who go to advance screenings aren't the true fans. these are folks who obviously have inside connections, and probably go to a lot of these (and probably for free as well, as was the case tonight and my lotr screening), so they're probably pretty jaded about the whole "being the first person to see the movie" thing.

after the movie, joel drove dan and i home. i got a ride to harvard square, and while taking some scenic rainy night photos, i watched as two cars got into a tailgating accident on dunster street. the man who tailgated jumped out of his car and started screaming ("why did you stop?!") at the taxicab he slammed into, despite the fact that everyone knows when it comes to insurance claims, it's always the tailgater's fault.

and while waiting for the 73 bus, this total pervert came by and stood right next to me. plenty of space all around us but he decided to stand right next to me, close enough so that we're touching. i didn't move at first, which probably meant the green light for him, but after a few minutes, it got too creepy and i shifted a few steps to the side, staring at him the whole time. he never once looked in my direction, but don't tell me he didn't know what he was doing when he stood right next to me. i stepped far enough away to take a photo of this sexual predator (not sure how well he predates, his technique is certainly lacking in finesse), as a warning to anyone who takes the 73 bus out of harvard square that if you see this man waiting for the bus, be ready for some awkward moments.